Every Friday I’ll be testing your knowledge with 12 challenging questions on the week’s news events, big and small, including happenings in science, sports, politics, and culture both high and low. The questions are multiple-choice, and time is of the essence: You have 30 seconds to answer, and as the seconds tick away, the question’s point value drops from 50 all the way down to zero, so you’ll want to click on your answer as fast as you possibly can. There’s no penalty for an incorrect answer, so feel free to take a guess if your puny human brain fails you.

At the end of the quiz, you’ll be able to compare your score with that of the average contestant, as well as to the score of a Slate-sterwhom I’ve talked into taking the quiz on the record. This week’s contestant is Forrest Wickman, Brow Beat writer and music quiz auteur.

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Think you can ace my quiz and beat Wickman? Good luck!

The Slate Quiz with quizmaster Ken Jennings

As you know if you've been watching the news, it's become abundantly clear that basketball player Ron Artest's 2011 name change to Metta World Peace has not, in fact, brought about world peace. World Peace appears to know that better than anyone, and he announced on Twitter this week that when he moves to the Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball Association next season, he will change his name again, to "The Pandas Friend." Maybe this one will work out better.

Question 1 of 12

A Category 2 storm named Iselle was predicted to become the first hurricane in 22 years to make landfall where?

Another hurricane, Julio, is following close behind.

Question 2 of 12

A three-day truce in what war appeared to be holding this week, after the last attempt collapsed in only 90 minutes?

Question 3 of 12

On Thursday, a U.N.-backed tribunal handed down the first judgments of "murder" and "extermination" against the leaders of what regime?

Life sentences were imposed on Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, ending a trial that began in 2011.

Question 4 of 12

MIT researchers have discovered a way to eavesdrop on people by doing what?

By watching the vibrations in ordinary items like house-plant leaves or foil bags, the scientists were able to reconstruct the sounds that created them.

Question 5 of 12

On Tuesday, Becky Hammon became the first woman ever hired full-time to work where?